10 Facts about Climate Action in Africa

Date02 Jun 2022

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Climate Change in Africa

Introduction

As the greenhouse gas emissions from human activities do not cease to exist, Climate change will continue to rise and be driven by these activities.

Climate change has continued to affect every country on the continent, including African countries. These changes have led to the disruption of lives and national economies across Africa.

In fact, several research findings show that Africa, despite its low contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, remains the most vulnerable continent to exponential collateral damage, posing risks to its economies, infrastructure investments, water and food systems, public health, agriculture, and livelihoods.

These impacts of climate change largely prevent Africa from achieving the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, urgent global actions put in place to combat climate change and its impacts, as well as the goals of the Africa Agenda 2063.

This article by Brickstone, reviews some institutional reports on Climate change and action in Africa.

Climate Change Impacts in Africa

A review presented by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which provides an overview of a report of the current state of the climate in Africa, in 2019, revealed that, Climate change is having an increasing impact on the African continent, which poses a threat for human health, food and water security and socio-economic development in Africa, and the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak being a contributing factor aggravating this toll.

This report also revealed that the Continent is predicted to experience a rise in temperatures, sea levels and coastal erosion, as well as extreme impact climate events in the coming years.

Agriculture being the backbone of Africa’s economy and also the majority of livelihoods across the continent, will be exposed and adversely affected as a result of the predicted climate variability and change impacts in the years to come.

Aside from food security impacts, population health across Africa as well as economic situations are predicted to be aggravated. Economically, Brookings’ report indicated that GDP exposure in African nations is huge vulnerable to extreme climate patterns is projected to grow from $895 billion in 2018 to about $1.4 trillion in 2023—nearly half of the continent’s GDP.

According to the African Development Bank Group, Sub-Saharan Africa having 95% of rain-fed agriculture globally, and agriculture having a large share in GDP and employment are key factors that contribute to Africa’s vulnerability to these Climate change impacts.

Climate Action in Africa

The need for ambitious climate action is heightened as a result of the rapid effect of Climate change impacts, and without action, current climate trajectory could force 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030.

UNDP, defines climate action to mean the “stepped-up efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-induced impacts, including: climate-related hazards in all countries; integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning; and improving education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity with respect to climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

Examples of climate actions that can be taken are provision of healthy energy systems like accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and making electric transport the new normal; operating an inclusive economic growth system like setting science based climate and sustainability targets; implementing climate friendly land use, conservation, and agriculture policies.

Here are 10 Facts about Climate Action in Africa garnered from these resources:

Africa’s Agenda 2063, which was concluded in 2013, recognizes climate change as a major challenge for the continent’s development.

Africa is the most-exposed region to the adverse effects of climate change despite contributing the least to global warming. Similarly, seven of the 10 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change are in Africa.

DP exposure in African nations vulnerable to extreme climate patterns is projected to grow from $895 billion in 2018 to about $1.4 trillion in 2023—nearly half of the continent’s GDP.

Sub-Saharan Africa has 95% of rain-fed agriculture globally, and agriculture has a large share in GDP and employment. These are key factors that contribute to Africa’s vulnerability to these Climate change impacts.

One promising approach throughout the continent to reducing climate related risks and extreme event impacts has been to reduce poverty by promoting socio-economic growth, in particular in the agricultural sector.

Women constitute a large percentage of the world’s poor, and about half of the women in the world are active in agriculture – in developing countries, this figure is 60%, and in low-income, food-deficit countries, 70%.

To improve climate change impacts, have outlined bold aspirations to build climate resilient and low-carbon economies in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement.

The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, since 2015, have become the main instrument for guiding policy responses to climate change. As of November 2019, 49 African countries out of 54 had ratified their NDCs.

South Africa’s Carbon Tax Act, which places specific levies on greenhouse gases from fuel combustion and industrial processes and emissions, came into effect in June 2019, and by 2035, the carbon tax could reduce the country’s emissions by 33 percent relative to the baseline. Same process can influence similar developments across Africa.

Efforts such as South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) program and the World Bank and International Finance Corporation’s Scaling Solar program have resulted in solar prices as low as $0.05/kilowatt-hour.

Conclusion

Climate change in Africa needs to be addressed and combated with effective and ambitious climate actions. This will reduce the rate of climate impact risks which African countries are exposed to. It will also create significant market opportunities on the continent, especially for the private sector and institutional investors.

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